The grand mansion of the Satha-ghari Kirpalani family continues to stand across the congested road running in front of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in Sindh.
Saaz Aggarwal
The grand mansion continues to stand across the congested road running in front of the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, Sindh.
Much divided and depleted, one of these impressive buildings, constructed in 1930, was home to the illustrious Satha-ghari Kirpalani family until 1947, when Partition forced them to flee.
Hundomal Kirpalani and his wife Gangabai belonged to the Sindhi Bhaiband community, socially prominent and well-off. But, with 7 young sons and a daughter, their lives were a struggle in the early days.
In the 1920s, they lived in a simple home in Ghitti Baba Lakshmandas with other Kirpalani families, as can be seen in this sketch, which was made by Murli Kirpalani. Dada Murli’s father was Thakurdas, the second son of Gangabai and Hundomal. He gave the sketch to Gopi Kirpalani (daughter-in-law of Parmanand, their seventh son, and herself from the illustrious Kewalram Chanrai family) and she preserved it as a record for future generations.
The family had a turn of fortune when the eldest son, Lilaram, went to Sindhwork, and gradually grew to prosperity. They built a new, palatial residence with separate quarters for each of the 7 sons and their families. Its construction stretched over a long period, with materials and furnishings sourced from different parts of the world, including marble from Italy and beautiful Sindhi tiling, some of which still be seen inside the building. It was this home that brought the prestigious name “Satha-ghari Kirpalanis” to the family – the Kirpalani family with 7 homes.
One of the biggest and most dramatic movements in Hyderabad in the 1930s was the rise of an organization called Om Mandli. The founder was Hundomal’s cousin, Dada Lekhraj. They had lived together in the old house in Ghitti Baba Lakshmandas. A close association continued over the years, and is retained by many branches of the family even today.
Displaced by the Partition of India in 1947, members scattered all around the world, many settling in Pune. But members live not just in India but also in Belize, Cambodia, Canada, Curaçao, Chile, England, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malta, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, the US, Vietnam, and other places.
Partition was not the only trauma and loss of prestige, wealth, and comfort that members of this family faced! However, the response has remained unwavering: stoic acceptance, awe-inspiring resilience, and the heroic ability to move on and rebuild without a fuss, a characteristic that many Sindhi families also displayed during Partition and continued to do so in difficult times to come.
Read: Anand – deeply loved by Gandhi
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Saaz Aggarwal is an independent researcher, writer and artist based in Pune, India. Her body of writing includes biographies, translations, critical reviews and humour columns. Her books are in university libraries around the world, and much of her research contribution in the field of Sindh studies is easily accessible online for example in:
https://www.sahapedia.org/sindhworkis-unique-global-diaspora https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZVBQWpTX4Uww1e-ZP_kT8A
http://blackandwhitefountain.com/
Her 2012 Sindh: Stories from a Vanished Homeland is an acknowledged classic. With an MSc from Mumbai University in 1982, Saaz taught undergraduate Mathematics at Ruparel College, Mumbai, for three years. After a career break when she had a baby, during which time she established a by-line as a humour writer, she was appointed features editor at Times of India, Mumbai, in 1989, where she launched Ascent, the highly successful HR pullout of the Times of India Group. From 1998 to 2006, she was HR and Quality Head of Seacom, an Information Technology company based in Pune. As an artist, she is recognized for her Bombay Clichés, quirky depictions of urban India in a traditional Indian folk style as well as a unique range of offerings at the annual Art Mandai event in Pune. Her art incorporates a range of media and, like her columns, showcases the incongruities of daily life in India.
Courtesy: Sindh: Stories from a Vanished Homeland (Posted on May 10, 2024)
Saaz Aggarwal is trying her level best to survive the history of Sindhis who lived in sindh before partition and after partition .
Congratulations to her for putting such efforts to survive the history which is lost by passage of time.
Thank you so much Nand
❤️